There’s a simple way to avoid many worker’s compensation claims: Don’t put the wrong worker to work. The “wrong worker,” simply put, is anyone who is physically unable to perform essential job functions.

The reclassification this summer by the American Medical Association of obesity as “a disease state” effectively declared that one-third of all Americans has a medical condition requiring treatment. The obesity classification will have a tremendous impact on health insurers and workers compensation insurers alike.

Trucking companies, drivers and the general public who shares the road with trucks would all benefit from an approach that treats truck driver health as an ongoing project rather than every-other-year paperwork – and the new National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners could be a step in that direction.